'Poisonous Plants 1-2-1' video

This short video summarising the story of Laburnum is just one of
a series.

Family

Leguminosae

Meaning of the Name

Laburnum
Another circular definition. The only indication of the derivation
of the word is that it is believed to have been a foreign word
brought into Latin. The ‘urnum’ suffix in Latin usually means
‘belonging to’ so it is possible that the plant came from some place
whose name has become shortened to ‘Lab’. Since some Laburnum
species have common names related to cedar, it may be that the plant
originated in Lebanon.

Equally, it could be based on Liburni, the Illyrian people
who gave their name to liburna, a light, swift sailing ship.

It is, sometimes, said to be from 'labium' for 'lips' because
of the leaf shape but, in his 1828 'Etymological Dictionary of
the Latin Language', Francis Edward Jackson Valpy gives this
explanation in the appendix of 'The Most Dubious Derivations'.

anagyroides
‘Like Anagyris’, a genus of shrubs with similar seed pods.

Common Names and Synonyms

common laburnum, golden chain

How Poisonous, How Harmful?

Contains cytisine, a quinolizidine alkaloid whose effects are
often described as being very
similar to nicotine. It seems, however, that it is not nearly as
strong a poison as nicotine.

All parts of the tree are poisonous: roots, bark, wood, leaves,
flower-buds, petals, and seedpods. The harmful part of the plant is
the seedpods which are mistaken by children for peapods, usually
after they have been shown how to eat fresh raw peas straight from
the plant in the vegetable garden.

In many cases of ingestion of a small number of seeds there are
no symptoms. Where symptoms do occur these are usually nausea and
vomiting. Higher doses can produce intense sleepiness,
convulsive possibly tetanic movements, coma, slight frothing at the
mouth and unequally dilated pupils.

In 'Accidental poisoning deaths in British children 1958-77'*
published by the British Medical Journal, Neil C Fraser writes
'Laburnum is frequently cited as the most toxic and commonly
fatal poisonous plant in both children and adults, but there
appears to be no report this century of a childhood poisoning
death'.

In a 1979 contribution to ‘The Lancet’ entitled ‘Have you Eaten
Laburnum?’, R M Forrester says that there are around 3,000 hospital
admissions due to Laburnum poisoning each year. This figure is
arrived at by extrapolating from the number of cases reported in the
north-west of England. Yet, there are no
reported cases of deaths in children due to laburnum.
Forrester says ‘It is suggested that laburnum is not as dangerous as
has been thought and that many of these admissions are unnecessary’.

There was a case, in 1970, where a paranoid schizophrenic,
resident in a mental hospital, was
believed to have committed suicide by eating a very large quantity
of the fruits and this may have led to the belief that the tree was
extremely dangerous. The case provided quite a puzzle for
investigators since the man had had a brief conversation with a
nurse only about ten minutes before death and had not reported or
manifested any of the gastro-intestinal symptoms normally expected
with severe laburnum poisoning.

*The article also says that in the period covered there were
three deaths of children under 10 attributed to plants. Even
this low number is overstated since one death was due to fungi
and in one of the other two 'the role of ingestion in the
child's demise is doubtful'. Thus there may have been only one
confirmed plant death, with 'hemlock' being the plant
responsible, in twenty years. The report deals with a total of
598 deaths and makes it clear that medication, household
cleaning materials and cosmetics pose a much higher risk than
poison plants.

Incidents

The majority of incidents with Laburnum are related to the
seeds but, in 1883, a Dr Biggs reported the case of a 4-year old
boy who had ingested a large quantity of leaves. He became pale
and cold but vomited regularly and recovered within a few hours.

There have been numerous instances of children eating laburnum
seeds and having their stomachs pumped but many report no onset of
any symptoms before the treatment.

The Summer 2003 edition of Poisons Quarterly, the Regional
Newsletter from the London Centre of the National Poisons
Information Service, gives a case where three children, attending a
barbecue, had their own party further down the garden and were
discovered eating ‘peas’ from a tree. The 3-year old showed no
symptoms, the 5-year old vomited twice and had stomach ache but the
4-year old had severe vomiting with tachycardia and twitching. All
recovered.

On 7th June 2007, there was an incident, in Ipswich,
involving a laburnum tree and primary school children. The school
grounds had been extended by clearing an overgrown area which put a
neighbour’s laburnum tree in range. Fifteen children were taken to
hospital after being seen playing with the seedpods. There were
fears that some may have eaten them but none became ill. The
incident occurred during ‘Healthy Living week’.

The pea-like seedpods.

A woman in her late 50s, said that as a child she had eaten
Laburnum seeds, thinking they were peas. She developed a ‘very sore
tummy’ but didn’t dare tell her mother for fear of being in trouble,
as she knew she shouldn’t have eaten the seeds. She recovered
without having any treatment.

A woman ate laburnum seeds as a child. She and her friend took
the ‘peapods’ off a neighbour’s overhanging tree and sat in the den
eating them. By the time her mother found them they were both
unwell and needed several days in hospital after having their
stomachs pumped to recover.

A man recalled his brother trying to persuade him and some
friends to eat some laburnum seeds. Only two of them did. One spat
them out saying they didn’t taste nice and the other got to ride in
a ‘Dee Da’ as the children called it.

The reputation of laburnum leads many parents and grandparents to
remove the tree to avoid poisoning in children. That many of
these people continue to grow plants with much more substantial
histories of doing harm is by the by. In one case, a father
decided to cut down a laburnum to prevent his three year old
daughter from eating the seeds. He was called into the house just
after felling it and returned to find the child happily eating the
seeds which he had put into her range.

The MAFF publication ‘Poisonous Plants in Britain and their
Effects on Animals and Man’, says that all stories about laburnum
causing serious poisoning and death are untraceable.

In 2009, the journal 'Forensic Science International'
reported the case of a 20-year old male who died from
respiratory failure after drinking tea made from Laburnum
leaves. Other possible causes of death were eliminated before
the conclusion was reached that cytisine poisoning was
responsible.

Folklore and Facts

Dreaming of this tree in bloom predicts that you will overcome
the adverse influences around you by vigorous application of
intelligent effort. The flowers mean forsaken, pensive beauty.

That the whole tree is poisonous and not just the seeds is
demonstrated by people who have lost kittens when they used a
laburnum tree trunk as a scratching post. As long ago as 1928, it
was said that exposure to the sawdust of laburnum wood caused
‘constitutional symptoms’. This phrase is used to mean a general
feeling of being unwell.

The 1894 case of Webb versus Lemmon established the principle
that a neighbour can cut back overhanging branches without
consulting the owner of the tree. In 1919, the case of Mills versus
Brooker, established that the removed parts still belonged to the
owner of the tree. In this case, Brooker had picked apples from
overhanging branches and sold them but the case is used for all
foliage. These cases establish the precedent that is still applied
today and leads to countless disputes between neighbours when the
plant owner becomes aggrieved that not only has the plant been cut
back but the cuttings have been ‘dumped’ on his side of the fence.

The previous paragraph here on this topic, 'Webb’s laburnum
tree overhung Lemon’s field and Lemon’s horse ate the foliage
and died. The judge ruled that Lemon could remove any
overhanging branches but that they must be returned to Webb as
they remained his property', was, therefore, wrong.